Thoughts before reading:
I haven't read this one before, and it doesn't even look familiar. The school plots are usually pretty good though, and I'm hoping we get some of Dawn's POV on her bizarre behavior from #83. This is also the only Dawn book before she leaves for California again.
The basics:
April is going to be School Spirit Month at SMS, with a different theme and event each day, designed to boost school spirit leading up to a big basketball game against Howard Township. Dawn's wary about the whole concept, since she's not really into competitive things, and Mal agrees with her. She is interested in some of the scheduled events though, like the school clean up, but not so much in others, like dressing up or wearing pajamas to school. Mary Anne is mortified over the idea of dressing up at all, especially having to wear her pajamas in public. Kristy and Claudia are excited though, because Kristy wants be funny, and Claud loves to plan outfits (as we well know).
Dawn does get a sudden increase in school spirit when she sees that the Stoneybrook News is covering it, though. (Must be a really slow news week...) Despite this, Mary Anne ends up getting so upset over pajama day and the possibility of disappointing Logan if she doesn't participate, that she ends up crying. Dawn still doesn't really want to do it either. The girls ask Sharon for advice, and she tells them to stand up for themselves, because other kids must feel the same way, and not to worry if some kids get mad. "When you do what you think is right, there are often people who get angry with you. You can't go through life worrying about that." (pg 39) (Also, good advice!)
On wear-your-class-color day, Dawn's running late and can't find anything yellow, the 8th grade color. She settles for some yellow socks and rushes out the door. When she gets to school, she sees a lot of kids have gone all out, and she starts getting dirty looks right away. Several kids even make wise cracks about her lack of yellow attire. The Stoneybrook news crew is out front, and even they stop her to ask about it. Kristy gives her a hard time, then Claudia. Other kids who haven't participated are also getting teased, Dawn notices.
That evening, Dawn ends up on the news, as an example of a student without school spirit. Sharon calls the station, angrily, and tells the girls they should start a petition to get rid of SS month. Dawn likes the idea after everything she saw at school that day, so she brings one with her the following day. Some kids eagerly sign it, but the ones that don't agree get really hostile. Her locker is even tagged. Stacey approaches Dawn sympathetically about her locker that day, and asks to sign the petition. Kristy and Claudia, on the other hand, are angry about it, and make their feelings known. During lunch, Kristy tells Dawn and Mary Anne that Mary Anne is too uptight, and Dawn needs to give it up.
Lots of kids want to sign the petition as the days wear on, but those that are against it get really nasty. Dawn even receives a threatening letter at one point. Alan Gray dumps his spaghetti on her, causing a huge, angry food fight. Following this incident, an assembly is called to discuss the SSM controversy. Dawn presents the petition, which now has 300+ signatures.
On the following Monday morning, Dawn hears that Howard Township is having the same problem with their SSM. That same day, someone glues her locker door shut, and Mary Anne's as well. The administration announces another meeting about the SSM problem, this time to include parents. Dawn and Mary Anne also attend a protest at school, during which Dawn realizes a protest is its own type of pep rally. She admits to herself that she can now understand how certain activities can pump up spirit for a cause. When leaving school that day, she sees the gorgeous mural Claudia painted for school spirit.
At the BSC meeting that day, Claudia's in a horrible mood because someone ruined her mural sometime after school. Everyone is still bickering, and no one wants to take a 2 person sitting job with anyone on the opposite side of the spirit issue from themselves.
Sharon attends the SSM meeting with Dawn and Mary Anne. (Jessi and her dad, the Kishis, and Kristy, Charlie, and Watson also attend for pro-spirit. On the anti side, Stacey, Robert, Mrs. McGill, Mal, and Mrs. Pike are there.) Even the teachers are divided on the issue during the meeting. Parents start to argue with each other, and the whole thing ends in a huge shouting match. Back at home, Sharon explains to the girls that she thinks people are getting so crazy over this because it touches on a sensitive issue: Do you get to control your own life, or are you supposed to do what you're told? When essential beliefs are challenged, people feel very threatened. (Makes a lot of sense, actually. pg 108) Also that night, Sharon is singled out on the news for defending her daughters. After it airs, Dawn gets a threatening phone call.
The morning after the meeting, it's announced at school that SSM is cancelled. Dawn and Mary Anne feel deeply unsettled about their victory, however, because they didn't really want to cancel the SSM until people got really nasty about it. They just wanted it to be voluntary, and not be harassed over it. Together they draft a new proposal to take to the administration. The principal asks Dawn to read it over the PA system. This results in SSM returning on a voluntary basis.
By the big game, people are acting normally and everyone is friends again. (All the BSC make-ups happened off page.)
Meanwhile, the Barrett-Dewitt clan is having trouble adjusting to their new house: it's just too small. They end up deciding to build an addition.
Timeline:
It's April.
Misc. thoughts:
*Ghostwritten by Suzanne Weyn.
*Mary Anne's being passive aggressive about Dawn being in California for so long, even though she was understanding before. Typical.
*Dawn's all offended that Stacey doesn't think she and the rest of the BSC are very mature... but maybe stalking her didn't help? Haha.
*We always had these school spirit dress up themed days at my high school, but it was really only jocks, cheerleaders, and popular kids that participated, and no one cared much. Nobody got teased or harassed for not joining in, it was just something fun to do. I pretty much had the same attitude as Dawn: how does me wearing pajamas support the school?
*Dawn's still eyeing Stacey and Robert angrily when she sees them together. Let it go, Dawn... she just went 6 months without seeing Stacey, and has only been back for a few months. I don't know why she's taking all of this so personally.
*I could see a school taking spirit month as seriously as SMS did in here, but not a middle school. That's a stretch. If it was a high school, in an area that was REALLY into their sports teams, in a big football or basketball area, then I could believe this sort of thing happening.
*Mary Anne crying and whining about pajama day was SO annoying, even though I did agree that no one should feel like they have to do it. She just makes the biggest deal about how embarrassing it would be, and cries so much over it. Enough already, just decide not to do it, or wear a cute t-shirt and some pj or sweat pants. Even if she had to buy something for the occasion, what's the big deal? I wonder if she has some type of anxiety disorder. If not, I don't understand.
*To my surprise, Logan was actually supportive of Mary Anne's views on SSM, much more than her friends were, and he actually plays sports!
*I could see a small town news station covering high school sports, but middle school? Yeah right.
*Didn't Kristy, Claudia, and Jessi learn anything from what JUST happened with Stacey? Kristy treats Mary Anne and Dawn like criminals in here just because they don't agree with her views. Stacey definitely did the right thing, and got out just in time.
*Pretty much all the characters were at their worst in here though, so it was hard to root for anyone. Every single BSC girl was so immature about the SSM issue, and took it so seriously. That was definitely my biggest issue with this.
*Kristy and Jessi even wrote rude things in the club notebook about the girls who were against the spirit month.
*I wonder if Stacey noticed the BSC fighting over something this dumb and was relieved to not have to deal with it...
*By the point in the book where they cancelled SSM, Logan did get mad at Mary Anne because he thought she didn't care about the baseball team. Unlike the rest of the BSC though, they work things out really quickly.
*This is one of the most hated books in the series, but I didn't think it was bad. I've noticed a trend where I tend to like, or at least not mind, the books everyone else hates.
Books mentioned:
None
My rating:
3 stars. Entertaining, and much darker than I expected. The ending was a real cop-out though. We don't really see anything resolved. No one has to apologize, or is held accountable. All the hostility just vanishes, which undermines the seriousness of the storyline up until that point.
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